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AhPek Biker - Riding Adventures
Morocco 2025 Day 11: Marrakesh to Essaouira
Morocco 2024 Day 11: 25th April (Friday)
Marrakesh (Riad Tassili Marrakech)>Medina of Marrakesh>Koutoubia Mosque>Goats on Argan Tree>>Essaouira Beach>Essaouira>BaB Doukkala>walk>Medina of Essaouira>Raoud Rayhan>Place Moulay Hassan>Port of Essaouira Sqala>Ramparts of Mogador>Raoud Rayhan.
This is page 11 of a 13-page blog. Click Here To Go To Title Page.
Route recommendations, here are some tips on travelling to and around Morocco:
1. Traffic Directions!
Driving in Morocco is left-hand drive, and driving is on the right-hand side of the road. Do look to the correct side when crossing roads.
Speed limits are between 60 km/h within urban areas, 100 km/h outside urban areas, including expressways, and 120 km/h on highways. Do adhere to these limits, as often police are monitoring with radars; our driver-guide was careful about this.
Speed limits are between 60 km/h within urban areas, 100 km/h outside urban areas, including expressways, and 120 km/h on highways. Do adhere to these limits, as often police are monitoring with radars; our driver-guide was careful about this.
2. Immigration & Customs Requirements
For Morocco, citizens of Malaysia do not need a visa to enter for travel purposes and can stay in the country for 90 days without a visa. Click here for visa requirements for other countries.
3. Getting to and around Morocco.
Morocco is easily accessible by air as most major airlines serve Morocco and have flights to major cities such as Casablanca, Rabat and Marrakech. We flew return via Emirates to Casablanca with transit in Dubai at a fare of MYR4,430 per pax. Do note that Emirates now charges for seat selection.
For ground arrangements, we booked a 13-day guided tour through Tenere Tours at €1,350 per pax. This included stays at comfortable hotels and riads, and a night at a caravanserai luxury camp in the desert. Breakfast was included, and also dinners at the Dades Valley Hotel, Merzoga Riad and Desert Caravanserai Luxury Camp.
The guided tour included a 9-seater van with a driver-guide to take the six of us to/from the airports, and from city to city. And also the camel ride to the desert camp. We paid extra for walking tours at the Fez Medina and Marrakech Medina at €85/group/city.
For ground arrangements, we booked a 13-day guided tour through Tenere Tours at €1,350 per pax. This included stays at comfortable hotels and riads, and a night at a caravanserai luxury camp in the desert. Breakfast was included, and also dinners at the Dades Valley Hotel, Merzoga Riad and Desert Caravanserai Luxury Camp.
The guided tour included a 9-seater van with a driver-guide to take the six of us to/from the airports, and from city to city. And also the camel ride to the desert camp. We paid extra for walking tours at the Fez Medina and Marrakech Medina at €85/group/city.
For out-of-pocket spending, we exchanged Euros to Moroccan dirhams (MAD) at local money-changers in Rabat and Rissani. As a contingency, we brought along our Wise debit cards, do note that this may not be acceptable at many places.
4. Places & Things of Interest
En route were several places of interest, some of which we visited and others we did not for lack of time (Note: click on GPS coordinates for a directional map to respective places):
a. Medina of Marrakesh (UNESCO Listing) (GPS: 31.62248, -7.98986).
b. Koutoubia Mosque (GPS: 31.62372, -7.99361) at Marrakesh.
b. Koutoubia Mosque (GPS: 31.62372, -7.99361) at Marrakesh.
c. Goats on Argan Tree (GPS: 31.55308, -9.36345) at Mejji.
d. Essaouira Beach (GPS: 31.50761, -9.76719).
e. BaB Doukkala (GPS: 31.51618, -9.76581).
g. Essaouira Blue Fishing Boats (GPS: 31.50927, -9.77357).
h. Ramparts of Mogador (GPS: 31.51535, -9.77215).
i. Rampart Sunset View (GPS: 31.51388, -9.77247).
k. Place Moulay Hassan (GPS: 31.51164, -9.77182).
5. Food
a. Breakfast
Inclusive hotel Western & Moroccan breakfast at Riad Tassili Marrakech (GPS: 31.62383, -7.98749) in Marrakesh.
b. Morning Tea
Coffee & Pastries at Mazagan Café & Restaurant (GPS: 31.55086, -8.81406) in Essaouira.
b. Morning Tea
Coffee & Pastries at Mazagan Café & Restaurant (GPS: 31.55086, -8.81406) in Essaouira.
c. Lunch
Seafood at Butterfly Space (GPS: 31.51383, -9.77119) in Essaouira:
1. Tempura prawns, 2. Fish and chips with Sea Beam, 3. Fish Burger, 4. Pasta ai Funghi & 5. Pan-fried Sole.
1. Tempura prawns, 2. Fish and chips with Sea Beam, 3. Fish Burger, 4. Pasta ai Funghi & 5. Pan-fried Sole.
d. Dinner
Japanese-Thai fusion at Salt & Pepper (GPS: 31.51363, -9.77156) in Essaouira:
1. Miso Soup, 2. Spicy Ramen, 3. Bento set of Vegetarian California Roll, Mango Roll, 4 Salmon Spring Roll, 4. Pad Thai, 5. Wok Nouilles, legumes (Vegeterian Wok Noodles), 6. Complimentary Salad.
6. Accommodations
7. Dressing
I brought two long pants along and four shorts. In the end, I didn't wear the shorts as the weather can get quite cold in the morning and evenings, especially with stronger winds at the seaside.
When entering mosques, men can wear shorts, but ladies have to cover up their legs and heads. Scarves and long pants are recommended; if wearing shorts, bring a sarong or something to cover one's legs.
8. Communicating with Each Other
When travelling in a group, it's important to be able to communicate with each other, especially if one gets lost from the rest.
Upon arrival at Casablanca Airport, booths selling pre-paid sim cards can be found just before exiting the luggage reclaim area. There were booths selling Maroc, Orange, and Inwi pre-paid tourist phone sim cards. We opted for the Maroc sim card as it provides better coverage even in remote areas, which I found to be true, and it only had poor or no signal at remote stretches far in the hills or desert. We got the 15 Gb card, which is valid for one month for 100 MAD. Should this be inadequate, memory can be topped up at any phone shop.
9. Communicating with Locals
At favourite tourist destinations, markets and medinas, many locals speak fairly good English, some French and Spanish. At the smaller towns, locals speak some rudimentary English, and our local guide was most helpful in translating for us.
10. Weather
Useful weather forecast sites for Marrakesh are AccuWeather. For more detailed weather, including cloud cover and wind speed, use Weatherspark and Ventusky.
11. Navigation
I used MapMyRide to track our routes and stops. Geo-tagging of places of interest was via FaceBook or Google Maps.
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PRELUDE
The previous day, we had a whole day in Marrakesh, visiting the Majorelle Garden and were impressed with its lush flora, especially the cacti section. This was followed by a guided walking tour of the Medina of Marrakesh after lunch with a long stopover at the Bahia Palace, which enchanted us with its beautiful layout and intricate architecture.
Today we head further westwards to Essaouira, a seaside city at the edge of the North Atlantic Ocean. With a walk through its medina and along the walls of it's mighty fort!
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DAY 11: MARRAKESH TO ESSAOUIRA
Small Group (Non-cycling) Tour of Morocco.
Most of the posts below are linked to my Facebook postings during the trip and are embedded here with some comments. (NOTE: Click on respective posts to link to the FB post for more details. If you can't see the posts, please log out of your Facebook first.)
Cool roof top western & Moroccan breakfast at Riad Tassili Marrakech.
Heading out to meet our driver/guide. The porter
took us on a longer route through the lanes of the Medina of Marrakesh. This longer route went along wider lanes, making it easier for him to manoeuvre compared to the route we took when we arrived.
Every day need to buy water for ourselves. Dry
weather here, so we need to rehydrate frequently.
A quick stop at the Koutoubia Mosque for photos. Today's overcast skies and with the place being refurbished, my photos just don't do the place justice, so some these nicer photos are from Google.
Attractive bags, too colourful to resist, 90
Dirhams each. While visiting the Marrakesh Mosque, there are street vendors
nearby selling these bags and other local handicraft.
Leaving Marrakesh, along the Ave. Prince Moulay
Rachid, heading for Essaouira, 3 hours drive away. Getting excited, as for a
change, there will be seafood there! There are cycling lanes along some
stretches of the avenue. And we noticed that Caleches (local horse carriages) are still used as a means of transport to ferry people around.
A short coffee and
rest break at Mazagan Café & Restaurant, a very cosy place along National Route 8, on the outskirts of Essaouira.
Further ahead, stoped for a view of Argan trees. I didn't see any goats on the trees; so the photos of goats above are from
Google.
Camels crossing the road. The owner ties their front feet about 6 inches apart at the end of the day - "This gives the camels the freedom to roam freely during the night and find food, but not too far so that the owners can retrieve them the next morning."
On the outskirts of Essaouira, view of the
palm-lined beach near Plage de Essaouira.
Arrived at Essaouira, at BaB Doukkala. A porter
met us here to take our luggage in.
Walking the streets of Essaouira Medina to our
riad, following our porter closely, who was walking quite briskly through the crowd. It's around 3pm, and the streets are
bustling with activity.
Checked into our riad, Raoud Rayhan. It's
located within the Essaouira Medina.
For a change from Moroccan food, lunch at Butterfly Space:
1. Tempura prawns, 2. Fish and chips with Sea Beam, 3. Fish Burger, 4. Pasta ai Funghi & 5. Pan-fried Sole.
1. Tempura prawns, 2. Fish and chips with Sea Beam, 3. Fish Burger, 4. Pasta ai Funghi & 5. Pan-fried Sole.
At the sea wall - Ramparts of Mogador. This harbour city was formerly known as Mogador.
The fort.
Birding time at the Ramparts of Mogador.
At the wall shopping street, Essaouira Sakala.
It runs below and parallel to the rampart walls with many small and colourful shops lining it.
The town square, Place Moulay Hassan.
Views at the Port of Essaouira Sqala.
AhPek Biker pretend cycling at the Port of Essaouira.
Japanese-Thai fusion dinner at Salt & Pepper
Restaurant, it's operated by a Pinoy family from Manila:
1. Miso Soup, 2. Spicy Ramen, 3. Bento set of Vegetarian California Roll, Mango Roll, 4 Salmon Spring Roll, 4. Pad Thai, 5. Wok Nouilles, legumes (Vegeterian Wok Noodles), 6. Complimentary Salad.
1. Miso Soup, 2. Spicy Ramen, 3. Bento set of Vegetarian California Roll, Mango Roll, 4 Salmon Spring Roll, 4. Pad Thai, 5. Wok Nouilles, legumes (Vegeterian Wok Noodles), 6. Complimentary Salad.
(That's "Goodnight" in Bahasa Malaysia)
(For more photos of Day 11, Click Here)
This is page 11 of a 13-page blog. Click Here To Go To Title Page.
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